Introducing "Sharelaw"

Published: January 26, 2010

If you are familiar with using the law library’s LINK catalog to find local resources, you may be interested to learn that we have recently joined forces with eight other law libraries to provide a place where you can see the holdings of all nine collections with one search. All of these law libraries catalog and display resources using Innovative Interface Inc.’s integrated library system. “Sharelaw” (”http://lawir.iii.com/":http://lawir.iii.com/ ) is Innovative’s experimental new product which combines the holdings of all participating libraries into one central database of records. From an initial search, you will see which libraries own a particular title, its location, and whether it is available or not. Initially, we in the library are using this resource to compare our collection with some of our peers. As other law libraries join in, this will become a valuable tool in our collection development efforts. We hope that eventually Sharelaw will include an interlibrary loan function which will allow participating libraries to lend and receive materials quickly and cheaply. Innovative Interfaces is the provider of library systems to more than 60% of academic law libraries, so the potential for creating a comprehensive database of resources for our users is excellent. While this experiment is in its early stages, please feel free to browse the Sharelaw holdings.

Academic law libraries currently participating in Sharelaw are: George Washington, Marquette, University of California-Berkeley, University of Miami, University of Nebraska, Notre Dame, University of Texas, University of Washington, and Yale.